The impact the 2016 election year has had on U.S. citizens is mind-blowing. And my team and I have worked hard to find a way to do our part to help empower people to affect the change they want to see as we move into 2017. Since we’re in the business of writing and helping people achieve their writing goals, we’ve recently launched a smart project that helps you write a letter to Congress.

Many of us thought that short of being serious political activists, the best way we could affect change in our democracy was to simply make sure we voted. However, there are many other, easy ways to get involved. One of them is to simply use your words. They can be more powerful than you realize.

TheRightMargin can help you get past the friction or lethargy of following through on your writing goals – and particularly in spurring action toward one of the most effective ways to participate in our democracy: writing letters to Congress.

Beyond casting your vote, writing to your congressperson is among the most effective ways of getting your voice heard on issues that matter to you. You can use your words to affect change. And something as simple as a letter can empower you to expand your interest and involvement in our democracy.

On the face of it, writing a letter to Congress is pretty simple. Ask some of your politically active friends. But most of us need help breaking an undefined project into small, achievable steps. Just because you know that writing a letter to your representative is easy and all you have to do is ‘sit down and do it’, it doesn’t make it doable.

Let’s break down how to get your voice heard through writing a letter to congress:

As you learn the process, you’ll be able to build more avenues for correspondence, and maybe even your own personal advocacy engine (blogs, essays, letters to the editor, etc.)

That’s less than an hour of your time for your words to make a difference.

Do you represent a cause or campaign and would like to use TheRightMargin to build a letter writing campaign? Give us a shout via support@therightmargin.com!

As 2017 and a new presidential administration sets in, resist the urge to fall into inaction. Use words to see the change you want to happen in Congress and politics. This is how our democracy works. Communicate with the people you elected to office in order to create the political change you want to see. Write those letters and encourage those around you to do the same. All you have to do is take the first step. It’s remarkable what you can do with words.

Communicate with the people you elected to office in order to create the political change you want to see. Write those letters and encourage those around you to do the same. All you have to do is take the first step. It’s remarkable what you can do with words.